The Weekend Report

Rate a Record-Breaker

A trio of new releases provided the gravy for a record Thanksgiving holiday box office. But it was holdovers that topped the charts. The second weekend of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 ranked head of the class with an estimated $43.3 million (all figures reflect the 3-day portion of the session) and Skyfall took the bridesmaid’s slot with $35.7 million.

Leading the new releases was the animated epic Rise of the Guardians that slotted fourth with a launch of $24.9 million with the castaways of Life of Pi close behind at $22.1 million. Two positions back the oft-delayed remake of Red Dawn collected $14.6 million.

In the niches the Telegu Damarukam bowed with $111,000 at 23 venues. And among the exclusive freshmen the suspense was shattered by Hitchcock with a lively $303,000 on 17 screens. There was also encouraging news for the non-fiction The Central Park Five and French import Rust and Bone with respective initial tallies of $33,100 and $27,200 from three and two playdates.

Overall revenues rang up roughly $210 million for the three-day slice of the holiday frame and just shy of $300 million for the five-day section. Either proportion set new benchmarks with the box office up 27% from 2011 when the prior Twilight’s sophomore session grossed $41.7 million and the debut of The Muppets opened to $29.2 million.

Going into the holiday gorge tracking suggested a competitive race between Breaking Dawn 2 and Return of the Guardians that quickly evaporated. The animated tale of holiday icons in pitched battle against seasonal curmudgeons was vigorously marketed but its appeal proved younger than anticipated. Exit polls indicated an audience that was 57% female and 53% aged 25-years and younger.

Guardians also bowed in eight international territories and collected an estimated $10 million.

Closer to the mark was Life of Pi that was expected to open domestically in the low 30s for the five-day period. Though pitched toward a younger crowd the literary adaptation will have to work harder to cultivate it as a family favorite. Opening weekend crowds were 60% aged 25-years and older with a slight male skew of 52%. Its unique qualities and award consideration should sustain well through the holiday season. Pi also grossed a very encouraging $17.5 million from four international openings that included China and India where it opened at the top of the charts.

Completed two years ago the remake of Red Dawn got caught up in MGM’s bankruptcy reorganization and was picked up at the fire sale by Film District. It proved to be a good deal all around.

The session also saw the expansion of award contender Silver Linings Playbook to good but hardly exceptional results. Off campus Saturday saw blitz screenings of Les Miserables that confirmed its Oscar caliber and today a similar tactic is being accorded Kathryn Bigelow’s “let’s get Osama” Zero Dark Thirty. The rapidly dwindling list of unseen award prospects has winnowed down to The Hobbit, Django Unchained and Promised Land.